Improvement in links for railway horse-powers



3. WHEELER. LINK FOR RAILWAY HORSEPOWBR.

No} 88,778. Patented June 2, 1863.

e llllllll l ll- Witne 5.; es: wgawk Wmfi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE sErfr WHEELER, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN LINKS FOR. RAILWAY HORSEPOWEFLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 88.778, dated June 2, 1363.

To allvwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH WHEELER, of the city of Albany, county of Albany, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Mode of Constructing Links for Railway Horse-Powers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specificatiomlike lettersin the several figures indicatingthe same parts, and in which drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved link for railway horse-powers. Fig. 2 is a section thereof in line as m, Fig. 1. 'Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of a portion of a chain and track or floor of arailway horsepower with my improved link applied thereto, and Fig. 4 is an end view of aportion of a railway-horsepower chain and horse-track. (Shown in Fig. 3.)

Usually in constructing such power small shafts of wrought-iron are used extending from the link on one side of the chain to the link upon the other, the ends of the shafts bei igmadetoprojectbeyond thelinks far enough to form the axlesof the friction-rollersupon which the chains revolve. This plan, however, is objectionable, owing to the expense and weightof the shafts so used. As obviating such objection, a patent was granted to one Isaac R. Lawrence, October 11, 1859, for an improvement in railway horse-power chains, havingjthe axles for the friction-rollers ca von and with the link, the axle and link being {of the same cast metal. But this plan has also proved objectionable, inasmuch as it is almost impossible to cast' the axles of such links perfectly true and uniform in size.

In my improved link, clearly shqwn in Fig. 1, the axle portions a a, which, whether made of steel, wrought-iron, or other suitable material, are first formed of the proper uniform diameter, then cut to a proper uniform length, and when the body portion b of the links are .to' be cast are inserted in the mold, whereupon thecast metal composing said portion 1) is-poured around them.-

" Thus constructed, my improved link pos sesses the advantage of having its parts a of onevariety of cast metal, its parts a a maybe composed of steel or such other variety'of metal as is most uitable for bear- I ings or axles for the friction-rollers d d. By my construction of axle-links I am therefore enabled, first, to utilize any'tough material'in" place of cast-iron axles, which, from the con stant jar they are subject to, are liable to break; second, I may use such metal as is most suitable for bearings or-journals7 for the friction-rollers to revolve upon; and,

third, I dispense with the cost and cumbersome weight of transverse shafts the ends of which haveheretofore been made to form bearings for the friction-rollers, as before stated.

H in the. figures indicates a lag or strip of wood, of which the track of the railway horsepower is composed, its ends being connected with the endless chains, as represented.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The connecting-link a b, constructed as described, in combination with friction-rollers d, endless-chain links 0, and lag H, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. Theuse of a link which has a short hardmetal pin or journal and a castmetal body united together in the act of casting, for the purpose set forth.

SETH WHEELER.

Witnesses i E. S. BEDELL, EDGAR JEROME. 

